The staff of the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission has recommended denial of an application from the New Orleans Department of Code Enforcement to demolish a circa-1896 camelback at 2328 Annunciation St. in the full-control Irish Channel Historic District.
The demolition application will come before the full commission at its meeting on Oct. 2, after the HDLC meeting on Wednesday (Sept. 4) was cut short by a fire alarm.
The building at 2328 Annunciation St. is owned by the Galilee Housing Initiative & Community Development Corporation, a non-profit that according to a 2010 article in The Lens received more than 70 properties from the City of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to turn into low-income housing, but the buildings were instead left unrenovated and neglected.
The HDLC inspection of 2328 Annunciation St. found that the property had heavy vegetation growth, deteriorated shingles, missing weatherboards, and framing damage from termites and rot, but determined that it did not appear in danger of collapse and is not beyond repair. Code Enforcement’s application describes the action as a “Strategic Demolition Issued by the City of New Orleans,” but omits any criteria or explanation for this decision.
Galilee’s neglect of the building, which has been cited and fined with multiple violations by the HDLC and Code Enforcement over the last six years, is a real concern for neighborhood residents who want the city to make smart decisions about blight and promptly enforce its rules. But in this case, the PRC believes demolition is an unreasonable solution; the property needs a new, responsible owner.
Since the property has unpaid liens, it could be seized and sold at a sheriff’s sale, which would maintain the historic feel of the neighborhood, save historic and architectural fabric from the landfill, generate income for the city, return a neglected property to commerce, avoid the creation of another vacant lot, and provide desperately needed housing.
The PRC supports the HDLC staff’s recommendation to deny the demolition, and we are concerned about the larger implications of this application, in which neglected properties that could be auctioned and rehabilitated are instead proposed for demolition without clear cause. Blight needs to be addressed, but demolitions in historic districts should be a last resort.
In other news from the Sept. 4 HDLC meeting,
- two new commissioners were appointed: Annie Irvin, who will represent Carrollton, and Adero Lewis, who will represent Holy Cross.
- The commission voted to study the 1926 St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church at 1731 New Orleans St. as a potential new landmark.
- The demolition of 1622 Toledano St., a contributing-rated, residential building that lacks integrity in the Garden District, was approved with details still to be worked out with the Architectural Review Committee for a new multi-family residential building in its place.
- Another demolition to grade was approved at 8229 Hickory St. for a non-contributing residential building in the Carrollton Historic District.
- The applicant for 401 Lowerline St. in the Uptown Historic District requested to demolish more than 25 percent of the façade of the Craftsman-style residence and encapsulate the front screened-in porch. The commission denied the request, noting that the staff had made some useful suggestions on how to minimize the demolition work to be less than 25 percent of the façade.
- Also Uptown, the commission decided to levy an $11,000 fine for the unauthorized demolition of the roof at 1808 Lowerline St. The project received a permit to remove rear portions of the building to construct a camelback, but it appears the building was not properly braced during a storm in May 2024, and the side walls splayed out, hitting a neighboring house and pulling the front wall backwards. To save the rest of the building, the roof was removed. The retention of the roof demolition was granted at the July 10 HDLC meeting, but the fine decision was deferred to this meeting at the request of the applicant.
- At 629 Lesseps St. in the Bywater, an applicant requested retention of numerous changes made without a Certificate of Appropriateness, including inappropriate window replacements and arrangements, changes to the rear portions of the roof, removal of a side entry, and an inappropriately placed transom on the front façade. The commission followed the staff recommendation, denying the highly visible changes but allowing retention of some of the alterations that are harder to see at the rear of the building.
